Akatsuki Institution of Higher Education
by S1SKA
Summary: AU- Akatsuki Institution of Higher Education, home to many smart intelligent students, as well as those rich bratty ones.  What is Haru to do in this kind of environment- and what is all this about heart-breaking, plot-twisting secrets?  OCx?
1. Grumpy Tour Guides

"Aniki…" I said, looking up at the tall man standing in front of me. Somehow, I was to be related to him- he was my half brother. But we didn't really get along- it's quite a long story.

"You will be attending Akatsuki Institute of Higher Education starting from tomorrow," he says sternly, leaving no room for arguments whatsoever.

"Yessir" I mumbled in response.

"This will be your uniform" he hands me a stack of folded clothes, the familiar red cloud insignia decorating the space over the right half. But something seemed off.

"Nii-sama!" I said, shocked at what I saw.

"Yes? Is there a problem?"

"No… never mind" I mumbled, already understanding the whole thing. I still couldn't argue against him- that's like asking for death, quite literally. Rumor has it that he and some of his friends beat to death some kid somewhere.

"Get ready; you'll be going to school with me starting tomorrow." Once he finished speaking, I bowed and turned, ready to leave.

"One more thing" he said, but I still didn't turn around. "Good luck, freshman." I could just hear the smirk in his voice. Oh how he irritates me.

-:-:-

"Welcome to AIHE" the unmotivated sophomore said, staring down at me with those unnerving milky white eyes of his. Was he wearing contacts? But I'm not one to judge on naturally occurring odd colors for hair and eyes and such. I myself had rather bright, annoying lavender locks chopped short just yesterday.

Oh, but his hair, his pretty hair. I must admit that I'm jealous of how pretty it is. So smooth and dark and chocolaty. Yum. I mean the chocolate, not his hair. Hair is not yum. Unless you're a creeper, and if that's the case, to each his own.

"Are you paying attention?" he glares at me, waving a hand in front of my face. My focus goes from his hair to his face. What a pretty face, but it would probably be prettier if not for that glare slapped onto those eyes. He seemed grouchy and unwilling. Not exactly everyone's role model, now is he?

"Hm?" I reply innocently, my eyes wandering to where this… green _thing_ interrupts the general peace of this place.

"Good morning, Neji-kun!" the green thing yells as he runs towards the tour guide. As he comes closer, I realize that he's not only green, but also orange thanks to the help of arm warmers and leg warmers. Oh and that green I mentioned earlier? That turned out to be a jumpsuit. Yeah, I'm questioning this kid's fashion choice too.

"I can see the spirit of youth is with these youngsters!" he says cheerily.

"Lee, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but there's only one freshman taking this tour" 'Neji' replies, his hand swooping over my head. Yeah, I'm kinda short. But he was a couple of steps ahead of me on this giant set of stairs. So yeah, that helped.

Still, he didn't have to be such a grouch about it- does is he on his man-period or something? I think I'll forget that thing called respect and label him as 'PMS boy.'

"And what is your name?" as the green wonder turned to face me, I could only concentrate on one thing- his outrageously bush eyebrows. It definitely matched that bowl cut, that's for sure.

"You can just call me Haru" I say

"Haru- _spring_! Oh, what a youthful name!" he exclaims, grabbing my hand with two of his. I started to tune him out as he talked on and on about the _springtime_ of youth and all that good jazz.

Yeah, I should be paying more attention to my seniors, but that doesn't happen, and I don't see that happening anytime soon, either.

"Oh, Haru-kun!" Lee says, looking over a piece of paper that I swore was in my possession just second earlier. "How lucky! It must be the power of youth!" he exclaimed, grabbing my hand as well as the tour guide's. "You two are destined to be roommates!"

Yeah, Bushy-Brows stole my schedule.

Wait, rewind a bit there.

We're roommates? Me, rooming with PMS boy? Oh please, no.

"It's like that- there's a freshman, a sophomore, and a junior per room." PMS boy explains, grabbing the paper out of Bushy-Brow's hands.

"Wonderful, just wonderful" I mutter under my breath, but of course the wonderful PMS boy hears me, his eyes training onto me like those fancy-schmancy heat-seeking missiles.

"I'm not enjoying this any more so than you, freshie" he whispers coldly before abruptly turning around and continuing the tour, as if none of that had even happened.

Tch.

As if.

-:-:-:-

"And here are the boy's dormitories," PMS said, his speech void of absolutely any emotion besides boredom. "Where we'll be staying, quite obviously. The junior that rooms with us is a bit odd, but mostly he doesn't even come so you can ignore him." I nod politely to show that I was partially paying attention. "Do you want to move your stuff to the room now?"

"Yeah" I replied, tired of dragging my luggage around with me.

The building's kinda large, considering that this was kinda a small-ish private school. Okay, that was a lie. This is the apparently biggest and best private school out there that everyone hates because only smart brats or rich brats come here.

Anyways, back to large building. We went up the elevator in awkward silence, me absentmindedly drumming my fingers on the handle of my luggage. This thing had a total of 3 floors and we were on the second. The elevator opened up and I stared down the hall. Kinda reminded of those old hotels, what with all those doors leading to all those rooms.

Seeing as he was the only one with the keys, he opened the door. I quickly follow in behind him before the door closes and I'm stuck outside.

The dorm room was actually pretty big- two bedrooms, one with a bunk bed and the other furnished with a full-sized bed. There was a decently sized bathroom between the two bedrooms and the other living space off to the side. A small kitchenette filled up the remainder of the space. Only the necessities, I guess.

"You're sharing the bunk with me" Neji says, my attention refocusing to him. I mumble a reply, tossing my stuff in the only unoccupied corner of the room.

"So are we gonna continue this grand tour or what?"

-:-:-:-

**A/N:** 1,100+ words... I think.

Let's not ask the logic of me starting yet another story... But this one's interested me for now, and I'm already writing the 4th chapter so updating should be pretty steady. ANYWAYS. :) enjoi.

And yes, there will be some form of major plot twisting coming up sooner or later, but for now, I'm struggling to make these chapters at least 1,000 words long... yeah...


	2. PMS boy PMS's

School life was decent for now.

Well, I can't really say that since I've only had a look at the schedule. Luckily for me, I only had one class with that PMS boy and that was PE. I was to see that green-clad disaster for PE and Geometry, though. Isn't that a joy.

Surprisingly, that kid was a sophomore like PMS. Bushy-brow, Lee, Rock, Broccoli, whatever that kid's name was, it evades me.

Anyways. Back to school. As far as I was concerned, we had those 2-day schedule-type things. Day A, Day B, whatever people like calling it. For me, Day A had PE, Health, Art and English. Day B was Music, Geometry, History and Biology. Yay. And lunch was thrown somewhere in between there. When was my free period again?

Oh yeah- I was somehow signed up for too many electives. Not my fault.

At least homeroom was filled with freshmen and only freshmen. We kept the same homeroom for both days, and throughout all four years at the school. I hope that there's no one I hate in the class.

But that's beside the point here.

So yeah, today's the first day of School. Yay.

PMS had his alarm set dangerously early- almost immediately he trudged off to the showers. Since I showered last night before I slept, I was fine. I changed before climbing down the ladder- yeah I had the top bunk. Whoopee.

That left me with at least an hour before class started. What better time than to wander the school?

-:-:-:-:-

Man, this school was big. Like, seriously. There were separate buildings for the sciences, the physical education and art. Well, art counts both music and else wise, so it was a pretty large building.

No wonder we got 10-minute passing periods. I doubt some kids could make it if their classes were all the way across the school- which I hoped none of mines were. I double-checked, map and schedule in hand- they weren't. Yay.

Apparently I was still pretty early, if one were to judge by the amount of students strolling the hallways. There was me… and one other kid. Aren't we such morning people?

Wait, no wonder. I realized that the PMS-boy-wonder set his alarm two hours early. Probably to take care of that luscious hair. Hm, I had seen stuff like conditioner and Dove shampoo… Seems very likely to me.

Yay, two hours! (sarcasm, my dear friends, is _my_ best friend)

By the time I visited all of my classes so that I would memorize the route, I still had an hour to go. Might as well go pick up some breakfast from the cafeteria- I could hear my stomach calling my name.

And yes, he knows my name. But he likes calling me Sammich Lady. Cruel child. I don't even like sammiches.

By now, the more of the sensible children had gotten up, and tired children wandered into the mess hall. Let's ignore the fact that over half these children are older than me and get on with our lives.

I got the tray filled with decent looking food and surveyed the area, wondering where to sit.

"Good morning, Haru-san!" an overly bright and cheery greed-clad wonder said, calling me from where he was sitting with some of his friends. He waved me over with a bandaged hand, and I sat in the empty seat next to him.

"Good mornin', Lee-san"

"How was your first morning in the dorms?" he asked, much too cheery for my tastes.

"Fine, except P-I mean, Neji-san has his alarm on too early."

"Oh yes, the spirit of youth encourages him to wake up early!" Lee said, once again going on and on about the 'spirit of youth' and whatnot.

"Sorry 'bout Lee," a brunette across the table says. Hey, there _are_ people with normal hair color! She had brown hair and brown eyes, normal and whatnot. "He's always like that" she offers a half smile as an apology. I smile back.

"I've noticed."

"You're a freshman, right?"

"Yeah"

"I'm Tenten"

"My name's Haru" I said, unsure whether to give a last name or anything. Was her name Ten Ten or Tenten or Ten-Ten… it confused me, so I'll just leave it as is in my head.

"OMG SAKURA LOOK" a blonde said, her voice annoyingly high-pitched. She was talking to her pink-haired friend, and was failing if she was trying to whisper.

"OH HE'S SO CUTE" the pink head replied. I think I'll name her Pinky.

"BUT SASUKE-KUN'S WAY CUTER" and the blonde's gonna be Blondie. Oh, I'm so original with these names, aren't I?

"OF COURSE, _but_ HE'S STILL PRETTY CUTE" both girls giggled girlishly.

"Are you talking about me?" Lee turned to the girls and asked, wiggling those caterpillar eyes of his. As he stared on, I noticed his face developing quite the blush. Was Lee in love? Awwww…

"Ew" Pinky replied, dodging those kisses he sent flying her way. "Who'd ever say that about _you_?" The green-clad wonder turns blue with sadness, wilting away in his emo-corner. I frown.

"We're talking about your purple-haired friend sitting next to you" Blondie says, winking at me. I have to try not to gag.

Forget it. I gag, spitting out whatever I was eating at the time.

"Please refrain from disgusting me like that again" I say, sending a glare towards the two. They gasp, as if unbelieving what I just said. People like them just disgust me. I hope that they've the sense to disappear while I returned to my food.

"He's still kinda cute" one of them whispered. I could still hear them, though I haven't the fondness to discern them by voice. I sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time that morning.

I hear footsteps and I assume that they've wandered away.

"Seems like you have your own set of fangirls" Tenten said. I nod absentmindedly, not paying attention until she suddenly beams up and smiles.

"Oi~!" she waves her arms wildly, presumably at her friend. "Neji-kun~!" I twitch at the mention of PMS-boy's name. He gives a grunt as a reply, taking the empty seat next to her. He has yet to open his eyes, though.

Oh wait, I spoke to soon. He opens them all right, staring right at me.

"What's a _freshman_ doing here?"

"What do you mean by that, Neji-kun?" Lee asks, apparently finished with all of his food.

"It's a _freshman_" he repeats, staring at me.

"Is he awake yet?" I ask Lee, pointing at PMS boy.

"No, he doesn't wake up for a while…" Tenten trails off, slightly happier than she was before.

Well, well, well. I'll be darned. Two of my new friends in love! Ha!

And while I was caught up with my evil matchmaking thoughts I failed to sense the presence behind me.

"Haru?"

Ah, that can't be good.

**A/N:** 1,100+ words

I'll try to update on weekends~ I have school tomorrow though


	3. Friendly Game of Tag

"_Haru?"_

_Ah, that can't be good._

Slowly, I force myself to turn around.

"G-Gaara?" I smiled, but that was a fake one. He could tell, his eyes narrowing to slits. Those dark panda eyes of his didn't help one bit.

"Haru," this voice belonged to his obnoxious brother. He still hasn't gotten over that whole face paint thing yet, has he. "Why do you look like a b-OOF! Temari!"

His blonde sister had jabbed him in the sides, preventing him from saying anything more. "Can we talk, Haru-_kun_?" She obviously stressed the _kun_ more than necessary.

"Sure." I grabbed my tray and left. Okay, so I remembered to say bye, I have manners.

We walked off to some abandoned classroom somewhere. I followed Kankuro and Temari; they knew where they were going. They were senpais, sophomore and junior. (respectively) Oh, and I guess Gaara was an incoming freshman, then.

"What are you doing here?" Gaara demanded once the coast was clear.

"I should ask you that" I mutter, trying to keep calm. It's very hard with sea foam green orbs trying to pierce through your skull.

"It's your brother, isn't it" Temari says, looking out the doorway for stray students. So I guess she was the guard?

"Yeah. How did you ever guess?" Sarcasm, sarcasm, sarcasm. She sends me a look and I smile back.

"Haru, look over here" Gaara says, my focus returning to him. "What you're doing is very dangerous, okay?" I nod slowly. "Just-" he sighs, grabbing my shoulders so that I'm forced to look at him. "Don't get in trouble okay?" We both know that this could also translate as _Don't get yourself killed._

"Yessir" I mock solute with a smile, turning to check the clock hanging on the wall. Dangitall, when will this school invest in digital wall clocks? I hate reading those clocks with the long hand and the fat hand and all that stuff.

"It's about 20 minutes 'til homeroom" Gaara says, his clock-reading skills much more developed than mines.

"Mmkay… Wait lemme see your schedule" I grab the paper from his hands as soon as he takes it out.

"Yay!" I clap my hands together, trying not to giggle girlishly- which I failed at. "We have homeroom and Music together!"

"Oh, so I'll have to see your boyish $$ then, too?" Kankuro complains.

"At least I have one" I mutter- that boy's flatter than flat.

"Tch" was his short reply. He hated being teased on his flat behind- but what better reason to tease him about it?

"What, is Kuro-chan saaaaaad about his flat behind?" I tease, my tongue sticking out. Oh, the maturity of freshmen. No wonder all the older kids love us.

"You…" he mutters, his face turning a bit red from anger. I grin before hightailing it straight out the door. Oh yes, I ran. Kuro-chan's scaaary when he's mad. Ahhh, childhood nicknames. Of course I'm speaking from experience, but it's just too much fun to mess with him anyways.

I run down random hallways and corridors, not really knowing where I was going. Which means if I get lost, I'm kinda screwed. Oh well, a challenge is a challenge, no? Hearing angry-sounding footsteps behind me, I turn down yet another random hallways, mentally debating on how footsteps even sound angry.

"Get your sorry *** back here, Haru!" he yelled after me. Of course I kept running- I'm not stupid. When people yell threats, you avoid those people, right?

And of course, when one is running without looking in front of you, you tend to bump into people, right? Or is that only me? Anyways, that's what happened.

"OOF" I grunted, very manly if I do say so myself.

"Why don't you watch the **** where you're going, you little *****?" I looked up to see myself uncomfortably close to a kid with slicked-back silver hair.

"Sorry" I mutter, wondering when I could start running again. Just when I was about to, a large hand settles itself onto my head and I find myself looking into pink-lavender eyes.

"And what are you doing here, freshie?" so he's older- not a freshman. That leaves a world of possibilities because I can't guess people's age for my life. Then again he could be an overconfident freshman, but I'm doubting that one.

"Oi, earth to freshie" he calls, rather loudly I might add, in my ear.

"What?" I mutter, mumble, however you would like to describe it. I've stopped looking at him and refocused my attention to the corridor from which I came from.

"What are you doing here, do I have to ask again?" he asks, smirking.

"Uh, running from a friend. Terrible sportsmanship on his side, if you ask me." He laughs

"I like your spirit, kid" but his smile drops as I turn to face him again. He seems to be thinking about something. A finger tilts my chin up so that he can see my face clearly.

"…Do I know you?"

"EEEEEHHHHHHHHH?" and obnoxiously loud voice yells. It sounded like a child's.

"SHUT THE **** UP, TOBI!" he yells at the kid. I can't see the child's face despite the fact that he's only wearing an orange swirly hat. Must be something about the shadows, really.

"BUT HIDAN-SENPAI'S HITTING ON A FRESHMAN!" this 'Tobi' kid replied. So this silver-haired guy's name is Hidan.

"NO I'M NOT TOBI, HE'S A GUY." Hidan, was it? reasoned back. Both were equally loud, and both were giving me a headache.

"So you're gay, hm?" a new voice asks, definitely male. But its owner seemed very feminine… well I'm one to talk but still. And what with these guys and their drool-worthy hair? I am jealous~!

"Oh, it's a freshie" he says, deciding that he gets to be the second person to clamp his hand on my head. His hand feels… wet, as if he just washed them and then decided he was 'too cool' to dry 'em off. Tch.

"And it's a freshie who needs to be running away at the moment" I say. Maybe they'll let me go. Maybe pigs fly. Yeah, probably not.

"HARRRRRUUUUUU…uuu…" Kuro-chan's voice quieted as soon as he saw the people I was with. Were they that scary? Then again it's hard to tell if you've only known them for… oh I think it's been five minutes! Hey, that's a record!

"Is he your friend, hm?" the blond asks, his hand finally leaving my head.

"Yeah"

"Well, you'd better run along then, freshie" 'Hidan' says, pushing me hard enough to send me tumbling into Kuro-chan.

"Ow…" I said, rubbing my head. Looking back, I saw that those kids had already left. Whatever, right? I turned to look at Kuro-chan's face and noticed that he was shaking- from fear. "Are you okay?" I asked- something seemed wrong.

"You do not know how much trouble you could've been in." he says softly, slowly trying to calm himself down.

"Why?" I tilt my head to the side; a rather useless habit of mines if you were to ask me.

"They're the Akatsuki. _Your brother's friends_."

A/N: 1, 200+ words.


	4. Surprise, surprise!

04 AIHE

"_They're the Akatsuki. Your brother's friends."_

Well, that kinda made sense… No wonder he was scared. Didn't they beat up some kids in the parking lot back in their freshmen days? Y'know, terrorize the school, keep your manly image, all that good jazz. Yeah I never really bothered about my brother and his friends.

"Oi, Kuro-chan, you okay in there?" I ask, waving a hand in front of his face. He, in turn, scowls at me. Yeesh, excuse me for checking if he was alive. Rude much?

"Are you okay there?" Temari comes, seemingly jumping out from behind her taller brother.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine" I answer. The bell rings and I jump up, unused to its loudness.

"Yeah, the bell's annoying." Kuro-chan says, turning me around and pushing me into Gaara. What is with these people and pushing me into other people?

"Anyways, you two go run off to your homeroom, now!"

"Ow, Sorry Gaara-kun." I mumble, rubbing my poor shoulder. It's had too many collisions and homeroom hasn't even started yet. "I dunno why people decided that it's a perfect day to push me into others. Not my fault"

"Hn" he replies. Then again he wasn't ever really one for words. We walk to class. Yay, fun, right? Haha, too bad Gaara didn't like talking all that much. It's okay; I'm used to it. He's my best friend after all.

-:-:-:-:-

Apparently it was a B day… so I had music next. I walked to class with Gaara. Quietly. One day I might snap and break because of all that silence, but it's not anytime soon, thankfully.

"Aw, we just got rid of you half an hour ago!" that was Kuro-chan's voice. He was loud- yelling to us almost as soon as we stepped inside the room.

"Shaddup" I mutter.

-:-:-:-

School's a drag. Yup, drag's a new word. That's all that pineapple-haired kid would say all throughout Geometry. Kinda drove me crazy, but I'm used to it… sorta.

"Women are so troublesome" he said when the teacher assigned us to groups with two girls and two guys. Yay. Was this somehow supposed to get the class to know each other better? In case the teacher hadn't noticed, the class he was teaching contained hormone-controlled teenagers. Some kids will end up knowing each other a bit too well by the end of the period at this rate.

"OMIGOSH LOOK SAKURA" I twitched; it sounded like one of those two girls from earlier. Was this one Blondie or Pinkie? And they haven't yet learned to whisper.

"OMIGOSH ITS THAT KID INO"

"LETS TAKE THOSE SEATS"

"BUT WHOS THE PINEAPPLE KID?"

And it went just how you'd think it would go. By the end of the hour-and-half period, both of us were muttering 'Women are so troublesome' in synch.

What a drag.

-:-:-:-

"UGH" I said, throwing myself onto the bed. I promptly fell asleep, of course forgetting the fact that it wasn't my bed. Who cares; I was sleepy.

Of course PMS boy sees this differently, coming from how he heartlessly kicked my side.

"Oi, freshie, get up." At least he wasn't wearing shoes; we leave ours by the door. We have slippers instead!

I roll over and glare at him. I don't really appreciate it when my precious beauty sleep's interrupted. And he most likely doesn't appreciate me using his bed. Dangitall…

"I have a name too, ya know" I mutter sleepily. I tried to keep glaring at him but that didn't work.

"And what is it again?" he asks, rather grouchy for this time of the day. Whatever time it is now; I was too lazy to check earlier.

"It's Hatsuharu but you can call me Haru I guess." That name aniki gave me felt so weird on my tongue. I liked my nickname far better. HaruHaruHaruHaru. What the heck is a Hatsu-haru, anyways?

"…ru… haru!" PMS boy said angrily. Oh, I seemed to have drifted off again.

"Hm? You called, Haru speaking."

"Get outta my bed" he demands, with a look so scary it's almost forcing me to comply.

"Yes, ma'am" I reply, borderline cheeky. He glares at me again. Probably because of the 'ma'am'. But he should look on the bright side! At lease I'm complying!

I groan as I roll myself outta the bed, being just too dang lazy to simply get up and get out.

"OW" I said as soon as my shoulder- the same shoulder! had an unfortunate reunion with the floor. At least with people they're squishier and less hard… usually.

"Thank you" PMS says with a bit more sass than needed- who even knew that kid had sass? Oh wait, it's called sarcasm. Never mind then. I check the clock- I had time.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go take a shower before dinner" I announce, not really sure why he would even care.

I grab the pile of stuff that I prepared earlier for my shower and waltz inside. My, I do love a good shower.

After who knows how long- I've forgotten to keep track, I finally step outside and dry myself with a towel. And after toweling myself of thoroughly enough, I notice that I'm missing a vital piece of clothing.

My… uh… chest wrap. Let's just blame the need for that on this rather ugly scar running down my chest. Looks like someone tried to slice me in half… Aw who am I kidding, that did happen but I'm not about to elaborate because it depresses me.

At least I have my undies- I put that and my pants on first. Then I… wrap the towel around me, like a protective cover, a dress. Now if only I could get that wrap without that dear PMS boy noticing. I know, it doesn't seem likely. That kid has, like, 360-degree vision.

I sigh, stalling inwardly and outwardly. Finally deciding that _something_ was better than sitting around and moping, I get up and walk closer to the door, the towel still tightly wrapped around me.

I open the door slightly and peek outside. Of course I only notice the wisps of steam after they start escaping the room. Hm… what should I do? Why is my room so far away from the bathroom?

The front door opens and someone walks in, cursing loudly.

"***** Kakuzu" that person says. What a colorful vocabulary. "Won't let me stay in his **** room."

I don't hear PMS's voice at all… So is this the junior that rooms with us? I thought he said he never comes around.

"H-Hidan-senpai" wait, what is this I hear? PMS boy stuttering? How is that possible?

"Didja forget that I live here? **** Hyuuga…"

Yeah, it's that junior kid. His name's Hidan. Hey, that silver-haired kid I'd bumped into earlier was named Hidan, too.

So there must be two Hidans running around the school…

Or that silver-haired kid's my other roommate.

"What the **** are you doing in there, freshie?" oh, so it is the silver-haired kid. Hidan. Anyways, he's opened the door, totally revealing the almost half-naked me. Oh, PMS boy's there, too.

Their eyes caught mines, then widened as their gaze wandered lower, to where I protectively clutched the towel to my chest.

Did I forget to mention that I'm a _girl_?

-:-:-:-

**A/N**: 1,200+ words! Bwaha. I've been waiting for this chapter. But was it obvious to you guys...? Tell me please!

Review and feed this poor, starved me. Not sure how reviews relate to that, but that's minor detailing right there.

I've enough chapters written ahead for weekly updating, provided I still write at least a chapter per week.

Oh yes; I guess a preview is in proper order.

_Back to now, y'know, two guys staring at the almost-half naked me? Of course I did the first thing that came to mind- I **screamed**._


	5. Stupid TV

05 AIHE

_Did I forget to mention that I'm a girl?_

Yeah, I think I did.

Oh, well, nice to meet you. The full name's Haruhi, and I'm a girl.

Back to now, y'know, two guys staring at the almost-half naked me? Of course I did the first thing that came to mind- I _screamed_.

Hidan's on top of me in a flash, his fat hand covering my mouth. "Shut the **** up!" he whisper-yells, then proceeds to yell, thankfully not in my face. "WHY'S THE ***** TV SO ***** LOUD?"

It's not my fault I screamed.

"You've got some explaining to do, freshie" he says with a smirk, his hand still over my mouth. I'm scared. Hidan's scary.

"What… the… ****" PMS says, his face red. He looked away when he noticed me staring at him, though.

Luckily, they let me change first. I wrapped my chest extra-tight, even though I didn't have to. They already knew… but I did anyways. And I really hate that scar on my chest.

Once I step out of the room, a hand grabs my head and pulls me to the living room, dragging me to the couch.

"I reckon your name isn't Hatsuharu, then." PMS boy says, his face still lightly tinted pink. Ay, he's got albino-white skin- you've gotta be blind if you can't see the pink on that.

"It's Haruhi." I say with a sigh. Hidan's eyes open wide, shocked.

"You're-!" What was he going to say? _They're the Akatsuki. Your brother's friends._ All of a sudden Kankuro's words come back to me. I'd seen all of his freakish friends once or twice during my childhood, and he's stayed with the same group all his life. I knew what Hidan was talking about.

"Yeah. Pein's my half-brother" I say with a smile on my face. At least I tried to smile; it probably turned out looking all twisted and ugly. Can't really smile when I think about that wonderful ball of sunshine. Well, his hair's kinda like that but still. It's all orange and poofy.

Somehow they were still both shocked. Is my brother really all that famous around this school? And why's their little 'gang' or whatever named after the school?

"He's the one who sent me here- like _this_." I made a sorta gesture over my chest, turning kinda red after my hands dropped to my lap. Silence ensued. I bet you could grab it and then use it as a fly swatter.

"Well, ****." Hidan said, breaking the awkward silence.

"As if it wasn't awkward before" I mutter mindlessly, resting my chin on one of my hands.

"What did you say, freshie?" he glares at me with those pink eyes.

"Must you call me freshie? It irritates me after a while."

"Then what's your ***** name?"

"Haru… just call me Haru" let's ignore the fact that I said my name earlier. I didn't feel like arguing with anyone right about now.

"Neji-kun!" a voice calls, followed by pounding on the door. "It's dinner time!"

Hidan sighs, muttering about having to get up to yell at the disrespectful under-classmen.

"I-I got it" I said, slightly flustered. I never stuttered… what started this now?

"Lee-kun" I greeted the person at the door, who peered in the room curiously. He noted the awkward texture in the air and I saw fear in his eyes when he saw the silver-haired man seated on the couch. So he knows this kid too. Why does everyone know 'bout them except for me?

Oh yeah, 'cuz Imma noob of a freshie. Riiiiite.

"I-I-I-It's t-t-time f-for d-dinner" he finally manages to stutter, his eyes still looking at Hidan. Lee didn't even stutter that much in front of that Pinky that he _oh so obviously_ has a crush on.

"Mmkay, I'm gonna go then 'cuz I'm hungry." I turn back to look at the boys behind me. "You coming, P- Neji-san? Hidan-san?" I swear, I thought I saw Lee's eye twitch when I said Hidan's name. Odd, no?

"I'm coming" Neji says, getting up. Hidan throws himself onto the couch and waves us off.

"I'm guessing he doesn't want to be disturbed, then" I say rather loudly inside the room. Just to see what he does. He gives me 'the finger' and I notice that his nails are painted a rather dark shade of green.

"Isn't he polite" I say as I close the door behind us. Neji usually has the keys anyways.

-:-:-:-

It's pretty normal, as far as dinners go. When I finished eating, I saw a familiar shock of red hair in the corner of my vision. Excusing myself from the table, I ran up to him.

"GAAAAAAAAARAAAAAAAAA" I yell, flinging myself onto the redhead's back. Luckily for the both of us he's just sturdy enough to handle my weight. Must be because as a child, he was oddly obsessed with carrying around this heavy gourd thing. For all I know it could've carried anything from blood to sake to dead people. Not like I was really that interested in it…

Anyways.

"Yo" I say as the awesomest greeting ever.

"…yo" he awkwardly says back. That's Gaara for you in a nutshell… awkward. Well it's okay because he's my little awkward turtle.

I've kinda forced him give me a piggyback ride as he wanders around the hall. School's ended, we can wander and chit chat mindlessly.

Although, Gaara didn't really seem one for mindless chitchat.

Well, as justification, it's not exactly mindless, and it's not chitchat. We wander. Familiarizing ourselves with the territory. Hopefully we're not getting lost.

"Who's your roomies?" I ask him, absentmindedly playing with his red hair.

"Kankuro and a kid named Kimimaru or something."

"Oh" I reply, my mouth taking on that 'o' shape. I wish his hair was long enough to braid… Hey I wonder if I could braid PMS boy's hair… would he let me or will I have to do it while he sleeps?

"Who're your roommates?" he asks me, trying to look at me by twisting his head around. I pull at his hair, my silent way of telling him to stop moving his head.

"PMS-boy and Hidan." I reply. I'm still playing with his hair; I just wish that I brought hair ties with me.

"PMS boy?"

"That long haired pupil-less kid. But his hair's long" I say the last part dreamily, and he _almost_ laughs. Poor kid needs to laugh more. It's the best medicine, right?

"And-uh-uhm" I start stuttering like I always do when I have to confess something.

"What is it now?" Gaara asks, annoyed. He knew from experience that me stuttering equals trouble.

"They kinda know" I say, my voice no louder than a mouse's squeak. He stops walking abruptly, most likely thinking about something. And most likely that something's about what I just told them.

"And _how_ exactly did that happen?" he asks, using that I-wanna-explode-but-I-can't-right-now-so-this-is-the-voice-I-use voice.

"Well, you know… uh… t-that… is… um…"

"Just hurry up and tell me, Haruhi" he says shortly. Gaara's pissed. He'll never use my real name unless he's mad. Or pissed. Same difference, really.

"Well, you know how my memory's like that of a goldfish?" He nods a reply, obviously intending for me to continue.

"I kinda forgot something when I showered… a-and… uh… POOF!"

He sighs. This sort of explanation was _so_ me.

-:-:-:-

**A/N:** 1,200+ words

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

_Blah, blah, roll call, blah blah, announcements, blah, blah, blah OH IT'S THE BELL. I jump up as soon as the bell rings, ignoring all of the stares of those other jealous kids. They just wish that they're as cool as me._

_"BYE GAARA-CHAN" I yell, skipping out of the classroom._

_/_sorry for not updating in forever. Apparently, this chapter was rotting in the Document manager for the longest of whiles. Whooops. oh well, if nothing goes wrong the next chapter will show its wonderful face by the end of the weekend._  
_


	6. I'm so PUNny

06 AIHE

I woke up in bed… I must've fallen asleep on Gaara's back again.

But I was in PMS boy's lower bunk because I guess they found it too much of a hassle to carry my sleeping body all the way up the ladder. Yay for fatness.

"What time is it?" I mumble, not really expecting an answer.

"5:45 AM" PMS replies from somewhere in the darkness.

"Why is it so God-forsakenly _early?_?" I ask, rolling around in the bed.

"Just hush and get outta my bed"

"Yes, ma'am" I once again gracefully roll off, hitting the floor with a _THUD! _Oh, I hit the same shoulder, too. Ouch.

Once he goes off to shower, I change quickly in the safety of my own bunk. And underneath my blankets. Just in case. They won't think it odd because, well, they already know about _that_.

"Offta school" I announce to no one in particular. I wandered the halls plenty yesterday, so I didn't really have much to do.

Yay, fun.

-:-:-:-

Lucky me! I've found that Gaara's always up this early and now I can force him to kill some time with me!

No, I do not torment the poor soul. Haven't I said earlier that he's my _bestest_ buddy?

But we couldn't find any runaway clocks so there goes our plan. (Get it? Kill _time_? Ah, never mind)

I had sincerely hoped that stupid PMS boy wouldn't have his stupid alarm on but he needs his beauty time, as I so gracefully explained to Gaara. Of course I exaggerated a bit but he's used to that too.

Although no one threw any clocks around, time flew (haha, another lame pun, I'm sorry). Because clocks grow legs and time goes so much faster when you're with friends. (Seriously, I'm gonna stop with all of these lame time/clock puns; they're killin' me)

We walked to homeroom together.

"You two sure are close" a classmate said with a rather cheeky grin. Hm… what was his name? Spiky brown hair, red triangles on face, illegally smuggled in dog… what was he called again?

"OH! KIBA!" I yell, pointing at the child. I know without looking that Gaara's rolling his eyes.

"Must you yell?" pineapple-haired-kid asks, raising his head up from where he had been sitting. "You're not a girl but you're still troublesome… what a drag"

"_Excuse_ me, Mr-ray-of-golden-sunshine" I mutter under my breath before dragging Gaara to our seats.

Blah, blah, roll call, blah blah, announcements, blah, blah, blah OH IT'S THE BELL. I jump up as soon as the bell rings, ignoring all of the stares of those other jealous kids. They just wish that they're as cool as me.

"BYE GAARA-CHAN" I yell, skipping out of the classroom.

-:-:-:-

P.E.'s next. Several of the kids in my class groan. When I asked why, they replied with a look; "We have Gai-sensei."

Unfortunately, for me, the noob freshie, I still didn't know what they were talking about. I asked PMS boy, who told me that I would 'find out soon enough.'

I sighed, changing as quickly as I could inside the bathroom stall. In fact, I was so fast that I must say I'm very ninja-like, very… stealthy.

And as I thought the word 'stealthy,' I trip over some kid's dropped shirt. I hit my head on a bench- it was soo gonna bruise up later.

"Smart" I recognize the pineapple-kid's voice, and I look up to see him staring down at me with uninterested eyes.

"Thanks" I reply, standing up and dusting myself off. "Do you have this… 'Gai-sensei' too?"

"Yeah. He sounds like a drag"

"Haru-kun!" Lee called out to me, still wearing that green jumpsuit under the required grey shirt and red shorts. Other than those you can wear whatever you want, as long as the uniform's on top. "You have changed fast! How youthful of you!"

"Hai! Lee-kun!"

I could hear the complaints as I walked over to the gym, right next to the green-clad wonder.

-:-:-

I could not believe this. Lee and this… Gai-sensei are made for each other. I can see where Lee got the green jumpsuit idea from. But this guy's even worse. (get it? guy? Sounds like gai…? Never mind.)

Besides the tacky bowlcut and those caterpillar eyebrows, he had this giant nose that reminded me of a rather odd-looking zucchini.

It's like… Gai-sensei's a Lee Sr. Lee's a Gai-sensei Jr. I would be surprised if these two are completely unrelated.

"OH THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!" the taller bowlcut man yelled, his arms moving into a ridiculous pose. The shorter green-clad wonder echoed his sensei's words. As if on cue, a sunset on the beach backdrop appeared, and they run off into it.

Wait. That's no backdrop. It's a real freakin' sunset.

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"If we're lucky they'll be like that the whole period and we won't have to do anything" Tenten speaks up from where she was standing behind me.

"_If_ we're lucky" I repeat after her, staring off into the distance where the two had run off into the sunset.

Unfortunately for us, they soon ran back from the sunset, all the while shouting each other's names and stuff about youth and fountain of youth and springtime of youth and other 'youth-a-misms' (get it? euphemism? Haha, I'm a comedian)

"And now, our youth is in its prime! Run with me, to the springtime of youth! 100 laps!" the teacher declares, a finger pointed in the far-off distance. I think I saw another sunset forming.

"YOSH! GAI-SENSEI!"

I deadpanned. These two were crazy… 100 laps? We didn't even have enough time for 25, let alone 100!

"It's okay, we usually don't finish half of his crazy demands before the period ends." Tenten says, very very used to this from the 'this-happens-daily' look on her face.

"Usually?"

"Usually."

"… okay then" I say. Once Gai-sensei comes around from what seems to be his 20th lap, the rest of the class starts on their first. Because, of course, the teacher didn't notice the non-moving kids until then. Silly teacher, trix are for kids.

Pretty soon, class ended. I'm beyond tired, because the sensei seems to think that we're completely capable of keeping up with him. We're all forced to at least _try_. One kid, way in the back, didn't and ended up being pulled by one of them and pushed by the other. I definitely don't want to try something like that.

Let's just say I couldn't be happier when class ended.

-:-:-

"Oi, freshie!" I heard yelling. Turning around, I see that it's that junior… Hi-whatever.

"Hidan-san…" I say slowly, not sure if I got the name right. Frowning, he stops in his tracks and gives me a funny look.

"Don't call me 'Hidan-san' -makes me feel old" he says, his face returning to its normal smirk. "Just Hidan's fine."

"Okay, Hidan" I say. The way he walked was obviously saying, 'follow me' so I walked behind him.

"Oh, it's Hidan-senpai!" what I _think_ is a child calls out. It turns out to be that orange-capped child. Okay, so he's waaay taller than me. Big deal. I can call whoever I want a child.

At least, I can in my head. I wouldn't dare do so out loud. Who knows what these friends of my brother are capable of doing. I really don't wanna find out by personal experience.

"And it's Hidan-senpai's boyfriend!" he chirps, looking at Hidan, then me, then back to Hidan, and so on until he notices something. "But why aren't you two holding hands?" I think this kid's name was something with a T… Thomas? Tobi? Why am I so bad with names? Anyways, he runs over, grabbing one of my hands, and one of Hidan's.

I knew something seemed suspicious.

When he lets go, I notice that something's different. Vastly, importantly different.

"Bye Hidan-senpai! Bye, Hidan-senpai's boyfriend!" The child runs off, probably so we couldn't kill him.

After all, he _did_ just handcuff our hands together.

**A/N:** 1,300+ words

Bwahaha. Kinda boring, I apologize. but it'll get fun :D

And I also apologize for those lame puns. I couldn't help myself.


	7. stupid handcuffs

AIHE 07

_After all, he _did_ just handcuff our hands together._

"…what is this?" I ask, of course after Hidan cussed up a storm, many of those maledictions directed towards that Tobi kid. He sighs as a reply.

"They're handcuffs"

"I know that" I retort, a little bit more than grouchy. "Can't we get this off?" I shake my hands a bit, just for show.

"It'll be impossible" he shakes his head, clearly pissed. "Tobi got these abroad- they're apparently the most expensive and hardest to crack. Why did we let that kid buy this?"

"Exactly. Why?" I'm complaining as I sit down on a bench. We'd been wandering around for a while, so the bench seemed like a perfectly logical idea to me. He sits down next to me.

We were lucky that we both wanted to head in the same general direction so far. I was just pretending that I actually wanted to walk next to the kid. So, so far we've had no problems with the handcuffs. So far.

Nah, I'm kidding about that. It was horrible. He ends up dragging me around by my poor, bruised wrist. It's very, very painful, but he doesn't seem the type to care. And me, being the smaller, weaker one, can't really say much about it. I don't even bother trying to complain.

"I don't know" I finally said, leaning back to rest on my hands. I was really, really tired. Let's not ask why…Okay, _fine,_ I forgot to sleep after conspiring on how to cut off PMS boy's hair. He never did give me the chance. It's like he's got eyes on the back of his head or something.

"****" Hidan cussed again, abruptly getting up and forcing my hand up with him. I lost my balance and fell down.

"Ow" I was bleeding. Great- I'd managed to scrape my elbow. "Don't think we could get a bandaid anywhere, by any chance?" I hear him sigh as we walk over to the nurse's office. Well, _he's_ walking. I'm totally enjoying the sensation of being dragged, of feeling the gravel, dirt and rocks scratch up my legs and feet.

After all, aren't we going to the dear nurse's office, anyways?

-:-:-:-

Yay, the nurse's office is empty. Sarcasm there. I doubt this silver-haired kid-in-a-man's-body is capable of caring for my poor beat-up self. Ya'know? Something tells me he's more likely to injure me more in the process.

"Shizune's probably with Tsunade-sensei" he says, looking around the cabinets for the tools. I raise an eyebrow at the loose usage of names, but shrug it off. Hidan can do whatever he wants, I guess. "Our principle's a bit of a troublemaker"

I nod; I've heard stories from Kuro-chan. The principle's just for show. All the power's with the Akatsuki.

…one of which I happened to be handcuffed to. The world's absolutely wonderful, no?

Back to now, please, my dear mind, stop wandering! …not gonna happen. You think so too? Glad to know I'm not exactly the only one.

Okay, this time I'll _really_ get back on track.

Hidan's riffling through the cupboards, finally managing to produce a first-aid kit. Shouldn't that stuff be out on the counters for free(-ish) use for all? Like what if someone desperately needed bandaids and they couldn't find it?

What if the blood gets on the carpet? I checked. It was that pristine white tiling that you always find in hospitals and whatnot. Same with the walls and even this cot-like thing. It even has that button that you push to call the nurseys. Fancy.

I try to grab it from him, but he doesn't let me. He uses his height to his advantage, holding the box high above my head. That stupid smirk on his face was bigger than ever. I blame my shortness. I hate being short.

Should I? Should I not? My illogic takes over, and I kick him in the shins. He yells a loud "OW!" and drops the _metal_ first aid kit on my head. I, too, follow his lead in yelling "OW!"

"What the heck was that for?" we both yell at each other, though in his case, he substituted the word 'heck' for a much more colorful one. I tried pulling my hand, and thus the rest of me, away, but, alas! The handcuffs ruined everything.

"I hate these handcuffs" I mutter, fiddling with the metal mindlessly. My other, freed hand picked up the first aid box and I shuffled my feet over to the bench where I sat down. Hidan followed suit, still glaring at me. I opened the box, thankfully not spilling anything despite having opened it with only one hand.

I fish out a bandaid- why isn't this thing more organized? I slap the thing on my elbow, and another one on my knees. Bwaha.

"That… should be good" I said, although that didn't seem like the case. There were only two small purple flying pony bandaids on my legs, despite the countless scratches running up and down the length of it.

"You suck at that" Hidan commented dryly, pulling the first-aid kit out of my hands. He ignores my cries of protest (HEY!) and pulls me so my legs are across his lap. I, in turn, huff at him and ignore the weird looks he gives me.

He twists open a bottle of that wound-washer liquid, drowning a cotton ball in the stuff. Gentle is a word that I'm pretty sure he never uses, or even knows. It freaking hurt, that butthead. And seeing how he was practically rubbing that liquid salt in the wounds, of course he doesn't care about being gentle.

I just bite my lips and try not to cry out in pain. Somehow I manage to slip in a glare or two, all directed at his silver head. He ignores me.

"Take it like a ****ing man" Hidan says, finally sparing me a glance. I give him an incredulous look. He laughs, reaching over with his freed hand to ruffle my hair.

"You know I'm not a man" I say, quietly fuming.

"And you know that I know. It's fun to tease you, freshie" he replies, pulling out bandages from the box.

"And whose fault is this, anyways?" I give a rather indignant reply, glaring at him more and more.

"Don't take it personally, Haru-_chan._" He's making fun of me, and I don't like it.

"Don't mock me" I retort crossly, trying to cross my arms in front of my chest, sans one arm. Obviously didn't go so well. "It's not like I want to be here, like _this_."

"Yeesh, don't have to all ****ing touchy like that" he huffs out, rolling his eyes. We stay there in relative silence as he wraps my legs in white bandages. Geez, I look like a mummy. When he's finished, I pull my legs back, 'accidentally' kicking him where the sun don't shine.

No, seriously, though. It was an _accident_, no matter how much he will insist elsewise.

"****ing *****!" Hidan yells, doubling over in pain. His hands, of course, clutched at the precious family jewels. Y'know, the ones that I accidentally kicked.

Don't you dare forget about those _wonderful_ handcuffs.

-:-:-

uh, long time no update? suddenly found this chapter that I hadn't published for whatever reason, but don't exactly expect me to be writing any more. I've already forgotten the whole plot of it all (like it actually had one)...

actually my writing back then wasn't so bad, now that I think about it...


End file.
